


An Uncle in Denial

by TonyStarkissist



Series: The Adventures of Uncle Tony and his gaggle of li'l Chil'ren [2]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Crack, Fluff, Gen, Irondad, Shuri's a little brat, Tony Is A Good Uncle, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony is a good dad, Tony's secretly a softie, Tony-centric, Uncle Tony, adorableness, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 02:29:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17112719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TonyStarkissist/pseuds/TonyStarkissist
Summary: “Can I- can I,” Shuri gulped, trying to calm her laughter enough so she could form coherent sentences, “can I call you that?”“Excuse me?” Tony asked, reeling back for a second. Becausewhat?Why? He had only even met the girl a handful of times. Sure, he kind of adored her and her charm, but…what?Surely she was joking.T’Challa and Peter stared at her incredulously as well, as she continued laughing.“C’mon Stark. You? ‘Uncle Tony’ Wow! Please, I must partake in this absurdity.”





	An Uncle in Denial

Tony wanted to die. He wanted to throw his sorry carcass out of the highest window and hope for a quick painless death, but, of course, that was probably too much to ask of the laws of physics. So, he accepted his fate and collapsed down onto the Main Room’s couch with a strangled groan.

He knew for certain that the upcoming week was going to be a complete catastrophe, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to endure through it all. Both Clint and Scott were planning on bringing their families, or in Scott’s case: his daughter, over for the week, which in general was perfectly fine. Yet there arose a problem. And that problem began with the new, annoyingly dependent attachment the children had developed towards him. It just so happened that ever since that fateful day, nearly two months ago, where he had been left stranded with the loud infants and bratty teenager, the three young children had amplified the oddly dependent bond with him, and they just wouldn’t LEAVE HIM ALONE! It was as if everywhere he went, he had _at least_ one or two children trailing behind him at all times, and that was when Peter _wasn’t_ around to join them.

He loved the kids, he really did, but he preferred to do the majority of his loving and appreciating from a distance. And he also preferred their presence when a powerful king of a very technologically advanced country _wasn’t_ coming for a visit to discuss particularly important business trade.

He could picture it already. Walking down the hall at a sluggishly slow pace, talking about serious business matters, as he dragged along a three-year-old, giggling child latched on tightly to his leg.

He tried, oh goodness, he tried to convince Scott and Clint to have the children over another week. A time when he could somewhat enjoy the company instead of stress about being swarmed by a bunch of tiny minions while trying to dictate important commerce matters with a powerful king, but to no avail. The father’s had apparently already promised the excited children for a visit, and Tony didn’t have the heart to refuse their company.

So, he did the next best thing. He called up Aunt May and practically begged her to let Peter stay over for the course of the week, because… summer vacation... and he was desperate. The only person the children preferred over him, was Peter. At least, he hoped that was still the case; he hadn’t had the chance to test it out. Peter hadn’t been around the compound while the kids were visiting since before the whole babysitting incident. In the past, whenever Peter did visit, they would always pass right on by Tony and beeline straight towards Peter. Hopefully that hadn’t changed, and Peter could assume his usual role of over-excited babysitter, relieving him of some of the stress that was sure to accumulate over the course of their visit.

He would have just told Scott and Clint to keep an eye on their own kids, but the two idiots seemed to think that it was beyond hilarious to see Tony’s distraught face when he hears the now all too familiar ‘Uncle Tony!’, giving him only a second of warning before they leap onto his stomach and smother him in hugs and sloppy kisses to the cheek. Yeah, no. Peter would do whatever he was told, and if he was told to keep the children busy, away from him and the King of Wakanda while they went about their dealings, he would do it.

That, though, created another problem. Apparently… somehow, Peter had made friends with Shuri, the Princess of Wakanda. How? He had no idea. How he was able to get in touch with her? Still no idea. Why he thought it was a clever idea to invite her over to the compound while Tony had specifically appointed him the babysitter title? No idea!

And it wasn’t like the kid ran it past him beforehand either. No! He had to find out from T’Challa through their scheduled video-conference, because ‘some _random_ American child’ had befriended his younger sister and she had become an absolute pain to continue saying ‘no’ too, so ‘ _you don’t mind if she comes, right Stark?_ ’

How was he supposed to say no? Shuri already knew him quite well, and he can’t imagine what the young girl would do to him if he refused to let her come. She'd probably fly along anyway, out of spite, then trash his compound and perhaps even turn his own AI against him. Yeah, no thanks. Not to mention what Peter would do (probably pout), who had still yet to inform him of his very own invitee.

So, yeah. Now, his designated babysitter was going to be distracted, because he knew that Shuri was not going to settle for assisting in watching over the hyperactive children the entire week of her stay. He was so completely and utterly screwed, and all he wanted to do was take a nice bubble-bath, take a long nap, and then maybe tinker down in the lab, but _no_. Peter was supposed to be getting to the compound at any minute, along with T'Challa and Shuri; he didn’t have time for any of that.

And he was quite sure that he was never sleeping again… He was going to spend the next week surrounded by overly-excited children, and he was going to get absolutely no work done.

***

“Mr. Stark!”

There he was. The all too familiar voice of his very own idiotic teenager with a knack for trouble. He could hear the excited footsteps as the kid basically vaulted into the room, where Tony was attempting to manipulate whatever calmed peace was still misting around in the depths of his mind.

“Mr. Stark? Are they here yet?” The boy dropped down directly beside him, because he simply had no awareness of personal boundaries. His shoulder butted against Tony’s and his thigh grazed against his when the kid pulled his feet up onto the cushions to cross them beneath his body.

“No,” Tony moaned, dragging his hand upwards to pull it down his face miserably.

“What’s wrong Mr. Stark?” Peter asked.

Tony dropped his hand and cocked his head to the side to stare blankly at him. He was just _so_ done. Before he had the chance to answer Peter’s question with a generous string of curses and perhaps a few tears to accompany it, FRIDAY interrupted with the announcement of the arrival of the Wakandan King and Princess.

Tony stood up reluctantly, and Peter sprung to his feet to stand directly beside him. The older man frowned, jealous of the young genius’ excitement and threw an arm over the kid's shoulders to lean his weight against him. He wasn't particularly fond of the ‘standing’ thing anymore.

“Stark!” T’Challa greeted with a happy smile and open arms, looking all around gleeful to be there. Tony wished he had just a smidgen of that enthusiasm. The King rounded the corner, followed by a few guards, and then, not even a second later, a familiar teenage girl rounded the corner as well, completely absorbed in whatever piece of technology she had in her hand.

“Brother,” she scoffed, giving up with the device entirely, “these American phones are completely useless. Why did you get me one of these when - Peter?”

It all happened so fast. One moment, Tony had his very own comfortable arm rest, and the next, he was stumbling sideways when ‘said’ armrest suddenly became sentient and bounded across the room to greet his friend. _Dumb armrest._

T’Challa and Tony both shared a confused look as the teenagers grinned and giggled as they spoke in a language completely foreign to them, as if they had known each other for years. Talking about ‘memes’ and ‘vines’... it had already gone over his head.

“Just wondering here,” Tony began, taking a few steps forward and narrowing his eyes suspiciously. He paused when he stood directly next to T’Challa, and the two men addressed the teens together, Tony pointing an accusing finger between the two. “But how in the world do you two know each other?”

“Oh,” Peter piped up, a guilty smile forming on his face, “you remember that time when you had to go pick up Cassie from school for Scott and Maggie?” Tony nodded his head slowly, because, yes, he does remember that day. That was the day he realized that he was completely whipped. Whipped by a bunch of little, annoying rascals with no consciousness of acceptable volume level.

“Well, Happy had dropped me off after school and you weren't there like you usually were. So, I went down to the lab to find you, right? I didn’t mess with anything, I promise… well, I did… but nothing important. I was getting bored waiting, you know, and I saw this really cool orb looking thing on your desk, so I started playing around with it because I wanted to know what it was. THEN all of a sudden, there was light shining in by eyes. So, I moved it, and I saw Shuri’s face and I freaked out. At first I thought it was just a recording or something but then she glared at me and asked where _you_ were… and... we’ve been friends ever since.”

“It’s true,” Shuri supplied, with an affirmative nod of her head.

Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes again, then he chuckled. T’Challa laughed too, and before he knew it, he was smiling again. Peter always had that uncanny ability to cheer him up, because apparently Peter had him whipped too.

“Uncle Tony!”

It was a squeal. An all too familiar squeal. One he knew far too well, and it came from the hallway leading to the garage entrance. It accompanied the pitter-patter of familiar little feet and he wanted to cry at the absolute _amazing_ timing. That was sarcasm by the way.

He barely had time to turn around and brace himself for impact before he nearly toppled backwards at the sudden body that had rammed straight into his legs. He should have braced himself, because he should have expected it by now. He stared down at the toddler wrapped tightly around his shin, and he couldn’t help but smile. He just couldn’t seem to not smile.

“Hey Nate,” he spoke, “how’s life treating you down there?”

Nathaniel grinned up at him with a toothy smile, and for a moment he forgot about the other guests standing around the Main Room, witnessing the interaction. Before he could recompose himself, there was another loud shout as more heavy footsteps echoed into the room.

“Uncle Tony!”

It was Lila. Tony couldn’t help but smile at her either. She was decked out in her usual, flowery dress with her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. He was smiling until he realized that she was running fairly quick. A little too quick… and she wasn’t slowing down. For a moment Tony was a little worried, because she wasn’t going to try and tackle him, was she? Then she was leaping, leaping through the air, and colliding right into Tony’s chest. He spluttered a little bit and stumbled back a few steps, but he quickly wrapped a protective arm around her, so she wouldn’t fall and crush Nathaniel who was still attached at his leg, finding his usual seat right on top of Tony’s foot.

“Hey kid,” he huffed heavily. Trying to refill his lungs after Lila had so kindly knocked the remaining air out of them.

That’s when he took notice of the cackling archer standing at the end of the hallway. His teenage son standing beside him on that _stupid_ phone. Tony really didn’t like that phone…

He hefted Lila up, so he could hold her better, and he settled her on his hip as he prepared himself to approach the archer. He dragged his newly weighted foot behind him as he tried his best to look menacing, but it probably didn’t help with the two adorable addons accompanying him.

“I thought I told you I was having important company this week,” Tony growled out, already working on detaching Lila’s arms from around his neck and settling her on the ground.

“Yeah!” Nathaniel laughs, squeezing his arms tighter around Tony’s leg, “Us!”

Tony smiled down at him as Clint continued his hysterical laughing. Tony dislodged the toddler from his person, hoisting him up by the armpits and gently thrusting the giggling child into his father’s arms.

“Yes, you are special company,” Tony relented, with a small sigh, “but I have other people here to talk to. I have a lot of work to do this week.”

“C’mon Tony, Nate’s been begging to see you for the past two weeks,” Clint pouted playfully. Tony glared at him to try and get his point across, but it didn’t seem to help, because Lila had already wrapped her arms around him again and settled her chin against his side as she looked up at him with pleading eyes. He didn’t want to be the bad guy, he really didn’t, because despite all his talk and frustration, he really did enjoy when the kids were around. Except the following him every which way part. So, when Lila looked up at him with those pleading eyes, he couldn’t help but internally groan.

“So, you can’t play with us?”

“Not this week kiddo. Cassie should be coming though, and I invited Peter over for the week. You should have lots of fun without me.”

Tony didn’t really know why the girl was always insisting he play with her anyways. Typically, he just took the girls outside while they ran around, and occasionally… when he was in an exceptionally good mood, the two girls were able to convince him to make a blanket fort for their tea parties, of which he had also been roped in to. So, he didn’t understand why it was such a letdown when she realized he wouldn’t be able to play with her.

But, as soon as Tony mentioned Peter, Lila’s eyes lit up and she looked behind Tony at the crowd they had recently departed from, and sure enough… there stood her beloved cousin Peter.

“Wait, Peter’s here?” Cooper asked. For once looking intrigued by something other than his phone. It was a relief to know that _something_ was able to garner his attention.

Lila was just about to take off to see Peter, but Clint grabbed ahold of her wrist before she could run away again. He grinned teasingly up at Tony as he spoke.

“C’mon guys, let’s go help Mom unpack first. I let you see Uncle Tony, you can come down and play with Peter later.”

Tony watched them leave. Cooper rolled his eyes at him when the genius said goodbye and Tony clamped his mouth shut to keep himself from saying something about it. He had yet to speak to Clint about that phone, which he should probably do fairly soon. Lila skipped along beside her father, keeping a firm hold of his hand, and Nathaniel smiled at his uncle from over his father’s shoulder. He lifted his pudgy, little hand in the air and waved goodbye, and Tony did the same, wearing a small smile, because the seen was just a little cute.

They disappeared down the hall and Tony took a deep breath before spinning on his heel and stalking back up to the intrigued Wakandans and very confused Peter Parker. He hoped that the incident wasn't the first of many. Hoping that Peter would keep them distracted and perhaps Clint would actually do Tony a favor and keep his kids somewhere where they wouldn’t bother him and T’Challa while they were busy.

“Since when do they love you more than me?” Peter asked, looking genuinely offended.

“I don’t know,” Tony sighed, dejectedly, looking down at his shoes and shaking his head.

There was a significant pause in conversation, because nobody really knew what to say after that. The professional mood had dispersed, and even though he and T’Challa could really be considered friends at this point… this wasn’t a ‘friendly’ visit. At least it wasn’t supposed to be. So, Tony decided to step up and bring things back to a professional level. If they got through with the important things first, then maybe they could consider a more… relaxed approach to end out the week.

“I’m sorry about that. They haven’t seen me in a couple weeks, and they were just a bit excited. They shouldn’t-”

“‘Uncle Tony’?” Shuri interrupted suddenly, cackling maniacally, as if she were holding it back the entire time, and looking absolutely amused by the notion. “‘Uncle Tony’? Oh my goodness!”

“What?” Tony asked defensively. _Why was that so funny?_

“It’s just-” Shuri started, taking in a couple deep breaths to calm her laughter. She was capable of it for only a few seconds before she snorted loudly and burst into another fit of giggles. “Oh my gosh! ‘Uncle Tony’!”

Tony didn’t really see what was so funny, and neither did anyone else, so at least he wasn’t the only one confused. Even Peter had cocked a confused brow as he watched her suspiciously. Tony didn’t know if he should really be offended by the implication and knowing Shuri… he probably should be.

“Can I- can I,” Shuri gulped, trying to calm her laughter enough so she could form coherent sentences, “can I call you that?”

“Excuse me?” Tony asked, reeling back for a second. Because _what?_ Why? He had only even met the girl a handful of times. Sure, he kind of adored her and her charm, but… _what?_ Surely she was joking.

T’Challa and Peter stared at her incredulously as well, as she continued laughing.

“C’mon Stark. You? ‘Uncle Tony’ Wow! Please, I must partake in this absurdity.”

“No,” Tony replied defiantly. He was most definitely not going to deal with this.

He wasn't even a real Uncle! It was just some title he had been given while Clint had tried explaining the complicated relationship he held with his teammates. _Everyone_ was ‘Uncle’ or ‘Aunt. Even Vision was called: ‘Uncle Vision’. And he most definitely was not _Shuri’s_ Uncle. He wasn’t about to put up with that absurd name more than he had to. At least when the kids said it, it was meant as a term of endearment, but Shuri… her reason was just for the sake of the tease, and he didn’t like that.

Shuri only smirked up at him with a dark glint in her eyes. A challenging stare, one could say, but Tony stood his ground… at least he tried to.

***

That’s when the real madness started. Cooper still hated him, Lila and Cassie still shrieked while they ran down the halls of the compound, and Nathaniel _still_ refused to stop colliding his body into Tony’s legs every time he saw him. And now… Now Shuri refused to address him as anything but ‘Uncle Tony’.

It had only been two days and he simply resigned to his fate. He stopped arguing with the stubborn girl and stopped ignoring her when she called him, because what was the use? She was as good at the game as Tony was, and she wasn’t about to let up. So, now, he answered when she called him, and he didn't grimace or glare when she did so. In fact, he hated to admit it, but he was actually getting used to it.

Peter found the whole ordeal ridiculously funny, and even attempted to join in on the fun, but Tony put a quick stop to that one. “ _It’s either Tony or Mr. Stark to you, Mister. Don’t start with this nonsense._ ” He opted out from adding ‘dad’ to the list, even though Peter had accidentally called him that on occasion. He didn’t want to embarrass the kid too badly in front of his new friend, and he most definitely did not want to give the Princess menace anything more to work with.

Even T’Challa found the ‘Uncle Tony’ ordeal funny, consistently joking that if Tony was his sister’s ‘Uncle’ that meant Tony was his ‘Uncle’ as well. Tony just glared at him, because _that_ wasn’t funny.

***

The kid, for some reason, had become attached… extremely attached. More so than previous visits, and he wasn’t exactly sure on how he should feel about it. The kid literally downright refused to let go of him some of the time, so he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Honestly, though, it was kind of funny to see Clint’s face when, instead of sitting with his father for movie nights like the man was urging him to, Nate waddled up to Tony and climbed into his lap instead. It served the archer right for all his teasing, and Tony didn’t even try to suppress the proud smirk as he helped Nathaniel up and settled him against his chest.

Now, he was used to being surrounded by cuddly kids… all the time. Peter always sat sideways on the couch and braced his back against Tony’s arm as he lolled his head onto the older man’s shoulder. Every once in a while, the teen would get too tired to sit like that and he’d move Tony’s arm so it draped over his shoulder and then pillowed his head against his chest. When it began? He didn’t know. Why he was okay with it? He still didn’t know. Either way, he was used to it, and Peter seemed just as content with the familiarity.

When the other kids were visiting, Nathaniel would typically curl up against his chest, usually falling asleep before the second half of the movie began. Then, it was either Lila or Cassie that adorned his side, sometimes both, but that particular night, both girls were with their father’s, and instead T’Challa sat on his right, and Peter on his left. T’Challa had insisted on concluding their last meeting early to join in on the traditional movie night that all the Avengers partook in. The King was beyond eager to make friends with them all, and both he and Shuri were intrigued by the unique friendly-like atmosphere they conveyed. So, they had gone down to the lab to retrieve Cooper, Shuri, and Peter, then drag Bruce along as well, despite the man’s protests, before heading back up to join the rest of the team in the Main Room.

So, yeah. Apparently, Tony Stark was a professional pillow now. He could officially add it to his resume.

“Hey, Uncle Tony,” Shuri whispered, from T’Challa’s other side. Tony quirked a brow in response, but kept his gaze fixed firmly on the movie playing on screen. “Pass the popcorn.”

Without thought, Tony grabbed the popcorn from Peter, who had recently given up on finishing it, and passed it over to Shuri without a word. He heard a few snickers from someone, and somehow, he just _knew_ it was because of him. He leaned forward abruptly to catch the culprit, only to find Steve looking like a giddy child on Halloween, snickering behind his hand, watching Tony with amused eyes.

Tony glared at him, then glanced down at Nathaniel, sleeping against his chest, when he started to shift and snuffle pitifully at the abrupt movement Tony had made. So, Tony looked back up at Steve, and kept his glare fixed on the soldier, while he softly patted Nate’s back and leaned back into the cushions, where Peter was patiently waiting so he could rest his head again.

“You’re whipped Stark,” Sam whispered, smirking over at him. Tony nearly snapped his neck to glare at the man, but he didn’t say anything, because really… what could he say? It was true… but it wasn’t like he could admit that to them out loud.

“Whatever,” Natasha grumbled, still a bit salty at her namesake for replacing her with the eccentric Uncle. “I get dibs on the kid next time. You keep hogging him Stark.”

“Hey, you guys are the ones that left me alone with them. It’s not my fault that the child fell in love with me.”

***

So, over the course of the entire week, he couldn’t go anywhere without Nathaniel somehow finding him. It was endearing of course, but Tony just needed some alone time, so he could get some work done. Or, perhaps some time to spend with Shuri and Peter, but Nate wasn’t having it. Even Laura had trouble peeling a screaming Nate’s arms from around his neck when he _oh so desperately_ needed to use the bathroom without a nosey toddler accompanying him.

He could tell that Peter was getting a little bit jealous about the attention. Lack of attention from the toddler, or lack of attention from his mentor, Tony wasn’t quite sure, but either way, Peter looked more than a little bothered when Tony reluctantly waltzed into the lab with the toddler on his hip, for the third day in a row.

Though, when Nate went down for his usual nap, Tony was home free. It was a glorious two hours of toddler-less time to be spent with his son and newly named ‘niece’.

They had a lot of fun pranking T’Challa and the others, because well, all professionalism ended as soon as that last meeting did, and thankfully T’Challa didn’t seem to mind. Tony and Peter had also received the occasional lesson when Shuri went on a frustrated rant about ‘stupid Americans’ and their out of date gadgets. It was fun, and sometimes Nate would wake up and completely forget about Tony, giving them a few more hours to experiment before an annoyed Clint Barton carried down a teary-eyed child and thrusted him into Tony’s arms before marching back out with an annoyed huff and an angered stomp to his step.

It was endearing, and even Pepper found it beyond hilarious that the child refused to let go of him.

So, when it was time for everyone to leave, Tony felt that a problem was sure to arise. All the heroes were gathered in the foyer for their goodbye’s because it was the easiest way to accomplish the hugs and farewells without the wasted time of finding each individual person.

Cassie had left first. Her mother, Maggie, had arrived to pick her up and she was waiting by the door, speaking with Scott as Cassie spent the next few minutes saying goodbye to all her Aunt’s and Uncle’s. And Tony was proud to say that he was the only one out of the lot that received a big kiss on the cheek and a whispered ‘I’ll miss you’ accompanying her big hug.

Then, the trouble started when it was time for the Barton’s to depart. Laura said goodbye to everyone and smacked Cooper upside the head when he tried to escape without giving everyone a hug goodbye. The teen reluctantly did so, and his frown deepened as he got closer and closer to Tony. Tony raised an eyebrow amusedly as he watched Cooper’s eyes roll back as he swiftly hugged him and moved onto Peter.

Lila went next, giving everyone her usual hug and ‘I’ll miss you’. Though, Tony and Natasha got the biggest squeezes.

Then, Nathaniel, oh goodness that boy broke his heart. His lip wobbled miserably as he pouted in his father’s arms while Lila said her goodbyes to everyone. Eventually, the boy pushed away from Clint and started kicking his feet to be let down.

Clint set him on the ground, and as soon as the boy was on his own feet, he ran straight towards Tony, and that time Tony was ready. He crouched down and opened his arms just enough, and the young boy collided into him, wrapping his tiny arms around his neck, and pressing his face into his shoulder.

Tony stood back up and gently rubbed the toddler’s back as his small hands fisted the back of his collar.

“I’m gonna miss you _soooo_ much!” He sniffled.

He ignored Steve’s wide grin and patted Nate on the back.

“I’ll miss you too kid, come visit us soon, yeah?”

Nate nodded numbly into his shoulder and he pulled his head back to stare at Tony’s face. His small hands found Tony’s cheeks and he smushed them together and giggled through his tears. Then, he pressed a wet kiss to Tony’s forehead and smiled, and Tony didn’t even so much as grimace.

Then all too soon, the toddler had finished with him and reached over for Peter. Nathaniel did his rounds, and Laura retrieved him from Natasha, so they could head out. Clint led his family back to the garage, where the Quinjet was waiting, and promised they would return soon.

After that, the rest of the Avengers dispersed, each giving T’Challa a handshake and short ‘goodbye’ as they departed. For them, the goodbyes were finished, and they could go about their normal routine. Peter and Tony were the only ones that stuck around to officially see the royals off.

T’Challa said goodbye to Tony, with promise to put into practice what they had discussed during their meetings, and a last-minute invite to Wakanda at any time he wanted. Tony smiled and said he’d think about it while Peter and Shuri had their own dramatic goodbye going on beside them.

They waited for the two teens to finish their goodbyes, so they could go their own ways, but after Shuri finished with Peter she turned to look at Tony with a small smirk. He hated to admit it, but the look made him a bit nervous, because he wasn’t sure what she was going to do.

He definitely wasn’t expecting to receive a hug, but he did. It was a bit unorthodox and a bit unfamiliar, but he returned the gesture.

“Thanks Uncle Tony,” Shuri chuckled, making T’Challa grin to himself amusedly as he made his way to the door leading to their craft.

Tony rolled his eyes and scoffed at her. “No problem. See ya later kid.”

She gave him one more quick hug and embarrassedly pushed some hair behind her ear as she stepped away. The embarrassment didn’t last long, and soon there was another sly smirk adorning her features.

“You’re my favorite Uncle by the way,” she smiled. Walking backwards towards the exit, where her brother and the other guards were patiently waiting.

“Of course I am,” Tony smirked, “I’m the best.”

Tony and Peter stood side by side as they watched their friends leave. Then, Tony turned to Peter and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, guiding him to the back elevator.

“Have fun this week kid?”

“Yeah, lots!” Peter grinned, falling into step beside him.

“Alright, let’s go spend some time in the lab before you head home. We’ve got a couple hours before your Aunt will start calling, wondering where you’re at. What do ya say?”

“Of course Dad!” Peter grinned. Then, his face fell, and he jerked away from Tony, looking embarrassed and awkward as redness flooded his cheeks. “I-I-I meant Mr. Stark! I’m sorry! I meant to say Mr. Stark!”

Tony chuckled and pulled him back to his side, throwing his arm back over his shoulders and ruffling his hair good naturedly. “It’s okay kid. I know what you meant.”

***

Peter had left a few hours ago. The sun had already gone down, and he was left alone in the large, dark Living Room, staring out the window with a warm cup of coffee in his hands. Everyone was off in their rooms or in the gyms doing their own thing, and Tony wasn’t sure how to feel about the lack of activity.

He turned away from the window and his gaze glazed over the empty couches.

Peter had left. Shuri had left. The annoying, bratty Barton had left. His 3 little shadows were gone as well… and he didn't really know what to do with himself. A pensive smile rose at the corners of his mouth and he wondered when everything in his life had changed.

When had he become an Uncle? A Dad? When had that happened?

It was something he never knew he needed, and despite all his talk, he enjoyed everything about having the children around. It gave the compound a unique… hominess.

It was nice. It was nice knowing that he was loved and appreciated by something as innocent as a toddler. It was nice knowing that he was looked up to by someone as humble and genuine as Peter Parker. It was nice to have the friends that he did. It was nice to be close to them. Almost like… family.

Yeah, family. He liked that.

It was nice having a family.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it! I know it's a bit of a mess, but I just wrote this on a whim, because I... I just couldn't help myself. I needed some more Uncle Tony! So yeah, thanks for reading and thanks for your support! I love you all.


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